6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade | |
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![]() Parade logo with Dunkin' Donuts' co-sponsorship introduced in 2011 | |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 104 |
Production | |
Production locations | 20th and JFK Boulevard, and then across JFK Boulevard, around Philadelphia City Hall, across the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and ending at the Philadelphia Museum of Art |
Running time | 3.5 hours (with commercials) |
Production companies | 1920–1985: Gimbels 1986–present: WPVI 1986–2007: Boscov's 2008–2010: IKEA 2011–present: Dunkin' Donuts |
Original release | |
Network | 6abc (WPVI-TV) |
Release | November 25, 1920 – present |
The 6abc Dunkin' Thanksgiving Day Parade [1] is an annual Thanksgiving Day parade held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is currently sponsored and broadcast by ABC owned-and-operated television station WPVI-TV, through a co-sponsorship agreement with restaurant chain Dunkin'. It is currently the oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States, having been held through the Great Depression and World War II, and was created by Gimbels department store in 1920. The Gimbels Thanksgiving Day Parade was held until the department store closed operations in 1986.
The annual Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1920. It is the longest continuously held Thanksgiving day parade in the country. Like other parades of its type, it features balloons, floats, high school marching bands, and celebrities. Gimbels department store sponsored the 1920 parade as the Gimbels Thanksgiving Day Parade; it continued annually despite World War II. [2]
Ellis Gimbel, one of the founders of Gimbels Department Stores, wanted his toy land to be the destination of holiday shoppers everywhere. He had more than 50 store employees dressed in costume and sent to walk in their first Thanksgiving Day parade. The parade featured floats as marchers paraded down Market Street, with the parade's finale featuring Santa Claus arriving at the eighth-floor toy department at Gimbels, where he climbed the ladder of a Philadelphia Fire Department ladder truck. [2] Gimbels emulated other holiday parades already in existence. The Santa Claus Parade in Peoria, Illinois, is held on the day after Thanksgiving and is the oldest, continuously held holiday parade in the country since 1887, under the sponsorship of Frederick Block and the Schipper & Block, later renamed Block & Kuhl Department Store. Block's example led to the founding of similar parades in other cities. The parade tradition continues today.
When Batus Inc., which then owned Gimbels, was unable to find a buyer for the store in 1986, the Gimbel's chain was liquidated, leaving the fate of the country's oldest parade was up in the air. Boscov's, a family-owned department store based in Reading, Pennsylvania, and WPVI (6abc), the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company, then took over sponsorship of the parade. [3] They renamed the event as the 6abc Boscov's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
In 2004, the parade celebrated its 85th anniversary with new balloons and floats. An opening number paid tribute to the celebrities who had participated during its history. In 2005, it had the most stars in history, as well as eight new balloons, more than ever before. In 2007, the parade presented the first parade float with a built-in ice rink. Disney's High School Musical: The Ice Tour utilized the rink.
In August 2008, Boscov's Department Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and planned to close several stores, due to financial problems from the widespread recession. They then gave up sponsorship of the parade. Swedish furniture manufacturer IKEA, which has a store and its North American home office in nearby Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, succeeded Boscov's as parade sponsor from that year until 2010.
In June 2011, Dunkin' Donuts announced that they would sponsor the parade. [4] In addition to balloons and marching bands, the show features ABC Network celebrities, stars from stage and screen, Disney characters, and local personalities, including members of the Action News team.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parade was held as a television-only event. The 6abc Dunkin' Thanksgiving Celebration featured modifications similar to those made by the Macy's and America's Thanksgiving Parades. [5] The parade returned to its traditional format in 2021.
Since 1966, the parade has been broadcast on WPVI, as well as simulcast on other television stations throughout the United States. [6] Viewers worldwide could also watch the telecast on the station's website, 6abc.com. Good Morning America , ABC's national morning news program, sends a reporter to the event each year and covers festivities leading up to the parade. Recently, Good Morning America then-weather anchor Sam Champion participated in hosting, marking his 6th year of participation in 2013. [7] In more recent years, current GMA weekday weather anchor Ginger Zee has participated in hosting. [8]
Jim O'Brien was the program's first host; Dave Roberts became a perennial host upon joining the station in 1978. After the sudden death of O'Brien in 1983, WPVI's Lisa Thomas-Laury "took the reins" as Roberts's co-host. Together, Roberts and Thomas-Laury hosted the parade for nearly 20 years. When Thomas-Laury began to experience health problems in 2002, WPVI weather anchor Cecily Tynan replaced her. 2006 marked the program's first high-definition telecast.
Since her return to WPVI, Thomas-Laury helped host the finale in 2005 and 2006. In 2009, the station announced that Roberts would retire from broadcasting on December 11 of that year. Thomas-Laury made a special appearance in 2009 to celebrate Roberts's years as host. The current hosting team is Tynan and WPVI news anchor Rick Williams, [9] who replaced Roberts.
WPVI also broadcasts annual live coverage of Philadelphia's Pulaski, Columbus, and Puerto Rican parades. [6]
Balloons have been created to represent a wide variety of characters from popular children's books, including folk tales; toys, comic books, animated movies (cartoons), TV series (such as Sesame Street), films and other genres. Increasingly over the years, the balloons have featured characters who have tie-in marketing of toys, games, and accessories.
Year | Featured Balloons |
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2010 | New: Bugs Bunny, Fred Flintstone, The Jetsons Returning: Cornucopia, Sam I Am from Green Eggs and Ham , Mr. Potato Head, Big Bird, Toy Train, Scooby-Doo, Twinkles the Snowman, Nutcracker, Turkey, Horton the Elephant, Elmo [10] |
2011 | New: Buddy the Dinosaur from Dinosaur Train , Curious George, Red from Fraggle Rock , Apollo the Dog Returning: Turkey, Cornucopia, Madeline, Scooby-Doo, 2 Gift Packages, Bugs Bunny, Fred Flintstone, Toy Train, 2 Gingerbread Men, Kermit the Frog [11] |
2012 | New: Thomas the Tank Engine, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Lorax, Mr. Conductor from Dinosaur Train , Fireman Mr. Potato Head, Sid the Science Kid Returning: Cookie Monster, Scooby-Doo, Bugs Bunny, Elmo, Pizzazz the Snowman, T-Rex, 2 Gift Packages, Turkey [12] |
2013 | New: Chuggington Returning: Mr. Potato Head, Snowflake, Holiday Stocking and Christmas Bell
|
2014 | New: Maisy Mouse, Caillou, Garfield Santa, Bob the Builder, Mistletoes the Snowman Returning: My Little Pony, Mr. Potato Head, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Plex from Yo Gabba Gabba , Strawberry Shortcake, The Lorax, The Grinch, Pajanimals, Mr. Conductor from Dinosaur Train , The Cat in the Hat, Horton, Nutcrackers [13] |
2015 | New: Phila-A-Turkey, Tasmanian Devil, Daniel Tiger, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Bubbles the Goldfish Returning: Red from Fraggle Rock , Garfield Santa, Strawberry Shortcake, Sam I Am from Green Eggs and Ham , Scooby-Doo, Mr. Potato Head Fireman, Gift Boxes, Thomas the Tank Engine, The Grinch, My Little Pony [14] |
2016 | New: Foofa from Yo Gabba Gabba , Tweety Bird, Captain Barnacles Returning: Olivia the Pig, T-Rex, Tasmanian Devil, Curious George, The Cat in the Hat, Mr. Potato Head, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Bugs Bunny, The Grinch, Scooby-Doo, Daniel Tiger |
2017 | New: Buddy the Dinosaur (from Dinosaur Train), Penguins of Madagascar , Fiddlesticks the Holiday Mouse, Thing 1 and Thing 2 Returning: Bugs Bunny, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Daniel Tiger, Strawberry Shortcake, Gingerbread Man, Red from Fraggle Rock, Very Hungry Caterpillar, Pajanimals |
2018 | New: Where's Waldo? Returning: The Grinch, Thing 1, Thing 2, Hello Kitty. Santa Claus, Brainy Smurf, Strawberry Shortcake, T-Rex, Daniel Tiger, Underdog, Pizzazz the Snowman [15] |
2019 | All balloons grounded due to severe winds |
2020 | None |
2021 | New: Pac-Man, Jerold the Bookworm, Bumble the Abominable Snowman, Gingersnap Returning: Fiddlesticks, Daniel Tiger, Rudolph, Turkey, Buddy the Dinosaur, Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Cat in the Hat, Cupcakes [16] |
2022 | New: Smurfette, Peppa Pig, Alma, Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , Eva Green Tree Returning: Mr. Potato Head, Thomas the Tank Engine, Bumble the Abominable Snowman, Gift Box, 2 Ornaments, Bugs Bunny, Strawberry Shortcake, Turkey |
2023 | New: Sunny Starscout from My Little Pony: Make Your Mark , Hermie the Elf, Gobo from Fraggle Rock Returning: Turkey, Bumble the Abominable Snowman, Mr. Potato Head Fireman, Pac-Man, Horton the Elephant, Magenta and Tartan Ornaments, Pizazz the Snowman, Red from Fraggle Rock, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, Neon Gift Box, Smurfette |
In addition to the well-known balloons and floats, the parade also features live music and other performances. High-school marching bands from across the country participate, and the television broadcasts feature performances by famous singers and bands as well as appearances by local celebrities and actors from ABC shows. Since 1997, the parade has also featured a tap routine called "FanTAPulous," with more than 450 dancers from the East Coast. Other special guests include state and national beauty contest winners, cheerleaders of major sports teams, casts from musicals performing in Philadelphia, and Santa and Mrs. Claus.
For more than 25 years, [24] WPVI-TV has partnered with the Boy Scouts of America Cradle of Liberty Council in their Scouting For Food program to collectively coordinate one of the most massive food drives in the nation. [25] (In recent years, until 2006, it was called the 6abc/Boy Scouts Holiday Food Drive). In 2006 the Holiday Food Drive amassed 120,000 lbs of food, [26] and for 2010 Boy Scouts troops' efforts led to the collection of over 40,000 pounds of food towards the cumulative total. [25] The food drive distributes paper bags to residents' homes and collection boxes at local stores in the region. A few weeks later, they are picked up and sent to help those in need at Thanksgiving and the end of year holidays. The Boy Scouts also go to the parade route every year and collect food from spectators. The parade and food drive sponsors are generally the same. [27] In June 2011, Dunkin' Donuts announced that they would also co-sponsor the food drive. Proceeds of the food drive currently benefit Philabundance.
Santa Claus parades, also called Christmas parades, are parades held in some countries to celebrate the official opening of the Christmas season with the arrival of Santa Claus who always appears in the last float. The parades usually include themed floats, dancing or marching groups and bands playing Christmas songs. They are moving pageants that typically end near the centre of a city. Often sponsored by department stores, they may reinforce the store's brand recognition during the important Christmas shopping season.
Dunkin' Donuts, trading as Dunkin' since 2019, is an American multinational coffee and donut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1950. The chain was acquired by Baskin-Robbins' holding company Allied Lyons in 1990; its acquisition of the Mister Donut chain and the conversion of that chain to Dunkin' Donuts facilitated the brand's growth in North America that year.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit. The three-hour parade is held in Manhattan, ending outside Macy's Herald Square, and takes place from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thanksgiving Day, and has been televised nationally on NBC since 1953.
Boscov's Inc. is a family-owned department store with fifty locations in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Connecticut, West Virginia and Rhode Island. Twenty-six of these stores are located in Pennsylvania.
Gimbel Brothers was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the company moved its operations to the Gimbel Brothers Department Store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It became a chain when it opened a second, larger store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1894, moving its headquarters there. At the urging of future company president Bernard Gimbel, grandson of the founder, the company expanded to New York City in 1910.
WPVI-TV, branded 6 ABC, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the market's ABC outlet. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on City Avenue in the Wynnefield Heights section of Philadelphia, and a transmitter in the city's Roxborough neighborhood.
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Mister Donut is an international chain of doughnut stores. It was founded in the United States in 1956 by Harry Winokur. Primary offerings include doughnuts, coffee, muffins and pastries. After being acquired by Allied Domecq in 1990, most of the North American stores became Dunkin' Donuts. Outside of the United States, Mister Donut maintains a presence in Japan, El Salvador, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Lisa Thomas-Laury is a retired news presenter in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. From 1983 to 2003, she co-anchored the 5 p.m. newscast aired by WPVI-TV.
David Thomas Boreanaz is an American retired television broadcaster who broadcast under the stage names Dave Thomas in Buffalo, and Dave Roberts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the main weatherman for WPVI-TV in Philadelphia from 1983 until his retirement in 2009.
Cecily Joan Tynan is an American television meteorologist who has been with WPVI-TV since 1995. As of 2024, she is the 5, 6, and 11 pm weathercaster and chief meteorologist for Action News and is also the weathercaster for a streaming-exclusive edition that airs at 6:30pm. She formerly hosted the Saturday evening public affairs program Primetime Weekend.
Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It is sometimes called American Thanksgiving to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of the same name and related celebrations in other regions. It originated as a day of thanksgiving and harvest festival, with the theme of the holiday revolving around giving thanks and the centerpiece of celebrations remaining a Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner traditionally consists of foods indigenous to the Americas: turkey, potatoes, squash, corn (maize), green beans, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. Other Thanksgiving customs include charitable organizations offering thanksgiving dinner for the poor, attending religious services, and watching television events such as Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and America's Thanksgiving Parade as well as NFL football games. Thanksgiving is regarded as the beginning of the holiday season, with the day following it, Black Friday, said to be the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States.
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil, Germany and the Philippines. It is also observed in the Dutch town of Leiden and the Australian territory of Norfolk Island. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest and of the preceding year. Various similarly named harvest festival holidays occur throughout the world during autumn. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well.
Anthony Lucidonio Jr. better known as Tony Luke Jr. is an American restaurateur, musician, songwriter actor, and media host who founded the cheesesteak franchise Tony Luke's.
America's Thanksgiving Parade is an annual American parade held in downtown Detroit, Michigan each Thanksgiving Day from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST. The tradition was started in the city in 1924 by the J. L. Hudson Company department store. It shares the title for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, New York and is four years younger than the 6abc Dunkin' Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Thanksgiving Parade may refer to the following annual parades that take place on Thanksgiving Day currently, previously, or originally presented by department stores:
Philabundance is a non-profit food bank that serves the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley regions of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the largest such organization in the region. The organization stated goal is to end hunger in its communities.
Erica Alicia Grow-Cei is an American meteorologist and television reporter for WPIX Channel 11 in New York City.
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